Today is a somber anniversary. I’m sharing this post, of the several I’ve seen, because the accompanying photo shows Emmett as a beloved young man of potential greatness with his beautiful, proud and supportive mother Mamie — rather than the more famous images spotlighting the unspeakable brutality he suffered and the fathomless grief forced upon her. Some thoughts:
Mamie navigated her pain and power to give her final 50 years to activism.
Emmett’s acquitted, then later admitted, murderers died of old age but never showed remorse.
Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman who accused him of inappropriate behavior (a crime under unjust Jim Crow laws) and thus _directly_ caused his horrifying torture-murder is, right now, STILL ALIVE and has never been held accountable — even after admitting in 2017 that she absolutely lied and kept lying. Again, this woman’s disgusting racially-motivated lies directly led to an innocent boy’s brutal murder and yet she never suffered a day of punishment.
How can we reckon with the harrowing injustice of this, still! When anyone says that racism was a problem just a long time ago, they are lying, too. Systemic racism, in lockstep with white supremacy, is as alive, unpunished, and unbothered as Carolyn Bryant Donham herself. We know this, and we see more proof every day.
There is so much work to be done. #BLM
Text of source post:
In memory, Emmett Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955). Lynched this day in history. Till was crucified by the mainstream press. Headlines from newspapers such as the Washington Post referred to him as the “Wolf-Whistler.” (A 9/19/1955 article in the Post begins: “Two white men, accused of killing a wolf-whistling Negro boy, went on trial in a steamy Mississippi Delta courtroom today, their two-year-old boys in their laps.”
Till’s mother’s courageous decision, to have an open casket funeral and share photos of his mutilated body with the world, helped inspire the modern civil rights movement. Here are classroom resources about Emmett Till: http://bit.ly/1mWtVm4 A key primary document is the Look Magazine interview with the murderers: http://to.pbs.org/1AXAqx9 Image: Mamie Bradley and her son Till. This picture was taken before Emmett left for Mississippi, 1955. Source: The Library of Congress
Amy Winns 